The lack of matches has once again been seen in the evolution of Rafael Nadal, with the two-time Grand Slam winner this season almost eliminated from the 2022 Tournament of Champions as early as the group stage.

Rafael Nadal was eliminated from the Champions Tournament without winning a set

Rafa (remained the main favorite after the defeat of Carlos Alcaraz) looked the worst on the serve, the former ATP leader was betrayed by this weapon in important moments.

Nadal was close with Felix Auger Aliassime at 3-4, after which Rafa served well below his standards (he also committed two double faults). It was the decisive moment of the first set, which the Canadian won 6-3.

In the second set, Rafa also displayed a multi-flawed option, miscuing a forehand near the net (which has only happened a handful of times all season), missing a few forehands, and looking shaky on the backhand in many difficult baseline rallies.

In addition, the speed of movement from the bottom line was far from Wimbledon (the last tournament in which the Iberian had matches on his feet and very good pace).

Under such conditions, the victory of Auger Aliassime became natural, and the Canadian showed noticeable results in the second part of the season.

Felix won in straight sets (6-3, 6-4 after one hour and 56 minutes), a loss that almost sent Rafa home with just two matches played at the 2022 Tournament of Champions (with two losses and no set wins, Nadal has minimal chances of reaching the semi-finals).

Today’s victory of Casper Ruud with Taylor Fritz gives two certainties:

Know:

• This is Nadal’s fourth straight loss on the ATP circuit, having been beaten by Francis Tiafoe in the round of 16 at the US Open, Tommy Paul in the first round of the Paris Masters and Taylor Fritz at the 2022 Tour of Champions.

• The first two places in the two groups advance to the semi-finals, where the first place in one group and the second place in the other group are played according to the system.

• Tournament of Champions matches are played on a best-of-three sets basis.

Tournament of Champions 2022, group composition

• Green group

Rafael Nadal (1)

Casper Ruud (3)

Felix Auger-Aliassime (5)

Taylor Fritz (8)

• Red group

Stefanos Tsitsipas (2)

Daniel Medvedev (4)

Andriy Rublev (6)

Novak Djokovic (7).

Tournament of Champions – Records

• Most titles (in singles): Roger Federer (6)

• Oldest champion: Roger Federer, 30 years old, 2011

• Youngest champion: John McEnroe, 19, 1978

• Highest-ranked champion: 1st: Ilie Nastase (1973), Jimmy Connors (1977), Bjorn Borg (1979-80), John McEnroe (1984), Ivan Lendl (1985-87), Pete Sampras (1994, 1996) -97) , Lleyton Hewitt (2002), Roger Federer (2004, 2006-07), Novak Djokovic (2012, 2014-15) and Andy Murray (2016).

• Champion with the lowest rating: 12th place: David Nalbandyan, 2005.

• Most wins: Roger Federer (59).